Ascending Low, Descending High! - Vol 1

I have had my share of experiences that have altered my perspective in my short life. Child Birth, Multiple Surgeries, long hospital stays, ICU, Rejection, Loss through death,  Depression, Bankruptcy, Business Mistakes, Business successes, Great Networks, Charity Work, Friendships, Adventures  e. t. c. And Mountain Climbing has joined this list of experiences that have deeply influenced my life.

I am born and raised in what they call Mt. Kenya region but I had never really thought of Mount Kenya beyond seeing snow on it's peak from a distance. In December of 2016, I joined a team that went to receive a team of Rotarian climbers that was coming down Mt. Kenya. When I listened to all the climbers recount their experiences, I knew I was challenged and a year would not pass before I also went up the Mountain.

I volunteer at The Metropolitan Sanctuary for Children With Disabilities - Nyeri, and every year they send a team(s) of volunteer fundraisers to go up Mt. Kenya aiming at raising funds for the Sanctuary which provides 100% free services and products to children living with Disabilities. After I took up the Challenge I decided to join the team climbing November 2017.

To join the team, one was required to walk uphill every week the weeks preceeding the climb. I had never gone up a hill for a hike before and I had my uncertainties but I promised myself to it. I got a baptism to hiking by the rain that poured all through up and down the first hike Nyeri Hill. I did not give up, I instead felt extremely motivated. My motivation almost got cut short when I struggled up Nyeri hill on my second trip, but when on my third trip I made up Nyeri hill and down (16kms) in three hours 10 mins, I knew I would get up Mount Kenya after more training. On the Friday before the climb, I again challenged my endurance with a walk from Nyeri to Karatina and when I managed, I was more confident in my capability to climb.

Come Monday (Nov 13) I was extremely excited about the climb. We got to the KWS gate on time but our excitement was soon shot down when we were informed that we would need to add another 4.5 Kms trek to our climb due to bad roads. We were introduced to porters and our climb guide, as well as new terms to me like "gaiters" lol!

We set out and within the first 10 minutes I knew I would be the slowest of the team. I felt strong, but I was not as fast as most of the team. For a while I was discouraged, I had heard that teams move at the speed of the slowest so when I was left back I contemplated pulling out. I DID NOT, I KEPT GOING!

One of the climbers was kind enough to slow down to keep me company and that made me feel better and I eased into my position well. The challenge about being slow though was that, I would not get enough time to rest, normally I would catch up with the team when they were rested and ready to move. We left Met Station at about 11am and continued with our ascend through some light showers.

A section of the road was passable by vehicles and was a lil manageable until onto the forest section. The forest section involved a lot of lifting up and that drained a lot of energy as well as slowing me down. One of us also pulled out due to a knee injury and it felt not very good. 

In my experience, the real climb started when we finished the forest area onto the wet and rocky land. 

At this point I must indicate that the Mountain in my opinion is a Land of it's own kind, and I will never again look at it as just normal land, because it is not. It has it's own kind of soil, kind of plants, kind of rocks, kind of weather and kind of defense mechanism. I respect the Mountain!

We had our packed lunch after which I suffered my first Mountain sickness. My walking partner had taken some milk and it did not go well with his stomach. We walked as the last team, and the guide together with two of the porters did not leave our side. They guided us through the easier routes and patiently waited on us when we had to stop and re-energize. I must admit that, after the Mountain sickness incident (nausea, vomiting, dizziness), I again contemplated pulling out. I DID NOT, I KEPT GOING!

When darkness neared, we felt faint, we did not have much energy and the snacks seemed not to make any difference. From the position we were at, we saw what seemed like a stream, but what we were told is actually a big river. The guide and porters told us that once we crossed the bridge over the river we would be very close to the camp (Mackinders Camp). Oh we walked and walked with no sign of the bridge and we kept asking the guide whether he wasn't sure we were lost hahaha. Then we got lonely in the dark and we blinked our torches to try attract attention to any team still walking, we torch-linked with a team and the feeling was just great.

Then at about 8pm we finally got to the bridge and we were so happy to cross it that we decided to take a breather on a rock (pictured).

On that side of the river, the wind was blowing soo hard and so cold that our faces froze. The most interesting thing that I will never forget is that I dozed off immediately I sat on the rock, and when the guide was calling me to keep going he woke me off a dream. How I slept in the freezing wind is still a mystery, but like I said, the mountain has unique defense mechanisms. The guides had interesting modes of keeping us on our feet in the dark, they promised stones, rivers and such. After crossing the bridge, they told us that we were close to a sign saying 200 Meters to Mackinders. Most of this walk was basically wading through streams dragging our bodies forward. At this point again, I contemplated pulling out. I DID NOT, I KEPT GOING! 

Just before we got to the promised sign board, a team of porters met us with a flask of hot tea, hot having a different meaning on the mountain. While hot on normal land means being careful not to burn, hot on the mountain means being fast to drown the tea so it gets to the body while still hot. I do not remember burning.

I can comfortably say that I have experienced the longest 200 meters of my life, it was 200 meters that took us another 20 minutes, mainly because our bodies had been pushed beyond normal limits after a 13 hour walk! 

Surprisingly, I still found some energy to sing my way into the campsite, energy to chew and swallow and even energy to slip into my sleeping bag (first time).... 

The Mountain, The Mountain....

Vol 2 in a separate post... Loading...